What a difference a year makes. Rewind 12 months and we were calling in press pics from Berlin Fashion Week shows because we’d been distracted by Suzy Menkes, steps across the runway. Ooh look, she’s clapping. ‘Zitover?. Alas, this year’s vantage point is not so salubrious. In a village lacking even the retail equivalent to electricity – Zara, Top Shop, H & M, give my love to your sales racks – now-singular I can only pull on my best schuhs, set myself up with a bottle of Schnapps, tuck a goodie bag under my gaslift chair, and settle in in front of the laptop. Sure I’ll hardly notice the difference. I hope you’ll join me for the following shows.

ESMOD GRADUATION SHOW 6pm Tuesday July 6 Take down their names, would you?

KAVIAR GAUCHE 6pm Wednesday July 7 Obscurity one day. Subject of glossy chuffery the next. So the fairytale always reads. But overnight success has taken seven solid years for the pair behind this fashion haus, which recently opened its first Berlin flagship against a muted domestic economic backdrop. But with alignments spanning the globe and including brands such as Swarovski, Kaviar Gauche hardly needs a pat on the shoulder (where, incidentally, you’ll find the strap of a luxurious leather carrier). Score the measured avant-gardity as you might Balmain. Then add a point for the bridal collection. I do.

PROJEKTGALERIE 11am Thursday July 8 Part of the city’s seismic support for its budding fashion talent, this showroom can be credited with giving many an international ‘one to watch’ its commercial foothold.

BARBARA I GONGENI 7.30pm Friday July 9 The inspiration for last year’s post titled ‘Great Danes‘, and the subject of this post’s visual and *click, you know you want to* video, this woman turns out veritable confections of tulle that make Carrie’s ballet skirt look a shade underdone for an Under 12s skating competition. The beauty of BIG is her balance of the fantastical with the eminently wearable – a tulle mitre here, a peg pant there. Here a t-shirt, there a tutu, everywhere a…